Wolves play a menacing game with dog in Abruzzo, Italy0:35

A dog refused to be prey to a wolf pack in Abruzzo, Italy. The wolves can be seen chasing the dog and biting it twice before it escaped by jumping through a hole in a fence. Paolo Forconi shared the footage on February 17. Courtesy: Paolo Forconi via Storyful

A dog makes a dramatic escape from a wolf pack in Abruzzo, Italy. Picture: StoryfulSource:Supplied

A BRAVE, canny and extremely quick canine has enjoyed an incredible escape from a menacing wolf pack in thick snow in the mountains of southern Italy.

Amazing footage captured by local Paolo Forconi shows the dog as it is hunted down by a menacing pack of three wolves in Abruzzo.

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The wolves surround the dog on the snowy ground. Picture: StoryfulSource:Supplied

According to Forconi, sightings of “predatory” wolves used to be a rarity in the area but in recent years the animals have become emboldened and spurred on by hunger have began attacking and killing pets in the region and other animals including goats and chickens.

In the video, the wolves can been seen zeroing in on the domesticated dog, which appears to be cornered on the wrong side of a barbed wire fence.

The dog runs alongside the fence as the wolves move in from higher ground in the heavy ground.

The golden coloured dog, which appears to be a Belgian Shepherd or German Shepherd cross, looks to be in serious trouble before it quickly changes direction and heads back along the fence as the trio of wolves continue to give chase.

The wolves close in again. Picture: StoryfulSource:Supplied

The leader of the pack catches up to the dog and goes in for the kill but the smaller dog escapes. The wolf then bites the dog a second time before it breaks free again.

However the wolves then appear to have cornered the dog against the fence and it all looks to be over for the poor animal.